Clan-Members » Conn: Thursday was the third game of a he

OTTAWA -- Claude Giroux playfully punched Sidney Crosby on the shoulder between drills Tuesday, producing a smile from the Team Canada captain.Was it just four years ago these two guys dropped the gloves in a playoff game?Go around Team Canadas dressing room and youll find a long list of personal rivalries that have been put on hold for the World Cup of Hockey.Or you might say, the hatred has been temporarily shelved for a month.Its pretty easy, Crosby said Tuesday after Day 2 of camp. Thats just the nature of competing and playing against one another. As soon as you put on that jersey, youre on the same team and youre all trying to accomplish the same thing. Its pretty easy. We played world championships last year and had a great experience there. Hes a great player so, yeah, its fun to play with him.Some events are rather fresh. It was just over two months ago in the Stanley Cup finals between the San Jose Sharks and Pittsburgh Penguins that Logan Couture called Crosby a cheater on faceoffs.Theyve buried that hatchet on that one already.He said, No hard feelings. He understood what we were fighting for, we were down 2-0 in the series, Couture said, smiling, on Tuesday.And what of Corey Perry and Shea Weber? There was a certain forearm shiver that pancaked Perry into the ice in Game 5 of the Anaheim Ducks-Nashville Predators playoff series.I havent talked to him about the hit yet thats all over TV, Perry said with a smile Tuesday. But hell hear about it.And definitely no hard feelings, either, despite a massively physical series between those two star players, Weber trying his best to make sure Perry didnt get to make his normal living in the crease.Weve played together for a long time in different situations and different competitions. Hes a great guy off the ice, Perry said. Were always friends. But on the ice were two competitors and we both dont want to lose.Added Weber: Theres a lot of guys here that play against each other and play against each other a lot. You got to put those things aside. At the same time, a lot of us are friends. Weve played on teams together for a long time. But especially in the playoffs, teams want to win. Hes going to do everything he can to beat me and Im going to do the same against him. At the end of the day, were still going to be friends.Perhaps there is no greater example of putting your country first than the intense rivalry between the Sharks and?Los Angeles Kings. There are four Sharks and two Kings on Team Canada and their last two playoff series left wounds, to be sure.When you play each other in the playoffs, and one of us is crushing the other teams dream of winning a Stanley Cup, youre going to create a rivalry pretty quick, Kings defenseman Drew Doughty said. Obviously, we played each other so many times in the season trying to battle for first place. Were both very good teams. We play a physical brand of style. Thats going to create battles and hatred for each other. But I respect all four of those guys on this team, theyre all awesome players and Im so happy to get to play with all of them.Add in the Ducks equation in that California triangle of hate and you also have Perry and Ryan Getzlaf on Team Canada. Getzlaf and Joe Thornton famously dropped the gloves during a 2009 playoff series.Its very intense, Thornton said Tuesday of the California hockey rivalries. But theyre all super guys. I see Drew in the summer with golfing and things like that. Ive played with Pears and Getz before. So nothing really changes.So intense again was the Kings-Sharks series, San Jose getting revenge this spring on L.A., that Doughty after the season told Los Angeles media not to overstate his friendship with Couture. a fellow native of London, Ontario.Heat of the moment, Doughty now admits.When we come here, we put that stuff aside, Doughty said when asked about Couture. We never even had to talk about it. Its just gone. Were back to being on the same team like when we were kids, trying to win hockey games together.And yes, theyve seen each other this summer in London.Weve been skating together for a while, Couture said.So, just to be clear, theyre friends, right?Yeah, were friends. Ask him, I think we are, said Couture, chuckling.Crosby and Giroux, despite having the same agent, Pat Brisson of CAA Sports, never really crossed paths off the ice before finally playing together at the 2015 world championships, winning gold in Prague. They got to know each other there and theres a clear sense of respect and admiration there.We enjoy the challenge of playing against each other but we also enjoying paying together, too, Giroux said in French on Tuesday.[Before playing at the worlds], we only knew each other on the ice, and didnt like each other too much, Giroux added with a chuckle. But it made those games fun when you have a rivalry like that with a player. Obviously, off the ice hes a great guy.As Crosby noted, he loves the fact that rugby players will share a beer after an intense match. Team Canadas players have had a few bonding nights here together in Ottawa, putting aside those NHL battles for love of country.Once youre here, youre all buddies, and then once the months done, youre enemies again, Thornton said, laughing. Its kind of funny. Brian Burns Jersey Large . 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LOS ANGELES -- After losing the first two games of the season at home, UConn was in danger of dropping its third straight.But a late rally ignited the Huskies to their first win of the season.Terry Larrier scored 14 points, including the go-ahead basket, and UConn held on to beat Loyola Marymount 65-62 on Thursday night.We were scrambling a bit at the end and we were running on an empty tank, Larrier said. At the end of the game we were trying to stop them from getting open-look 3s and its definitely nice to get that first win.Although the Huskies (1-2) trailed much of the second half, Larriers basket with 2:22 to play gave UConn a 63-62 lead. Jalen Adams, a sophomore guard, added two free throws with 20 seconds left to give UConn a cushion.Brandon Browns 3-point attempt at the buzzer would have forced overtime for the Lions (1-2), but his shot hit off the rim and the Huskies escaped with their first win of the season.It was a grind it out game, UConn coach Kevin Ollie said. Its good to get on the victory trail. We did not finish a lot of shots. We missed a lot of layups and we need to improve our transition game. We had too many turnovers and we have to fix that. But our guys believed in themselves, trusted each other and didnt stop playing.Kelvin Amayo -- a transfer from Iona who was granted a sixth year waiver following knee surgery -- led LMU with 18 points. Amayo made 5 of 12 shots and 8 of 11 free throws. He also pulled down six rebounds for the Lions. Buay Tuach scored 12 points and Brown added 10 points for LMU.Amida Brimah scored 9 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for UConn.We started out strong in the first half but finished the half sloppy, Brimah said. At halftime we made adjustments and when we toook the court in the second half we had confidence we were going to win.dddddddddddd The Huskies started the season ranked 18th but fell out of the polls after a pair of setbacks against Wagner and Northeastern.Both teams showed offensive spurts in the opening half but neither team maintained them.Alterique Gilbert led the Huskies with 10 points in the first half, but dislocated his left shoulder after colliding with a defender while chasing a loose ball late in the half. He remained down on the court for several minutes before the training staff led him off to the locker room. He did not return.We definitely had good defensive pressure as a team, Vital said. This was a must win for our team. Were a young team and we faced adversity.Ollie said Gilbert reinjured the shoulder he previously hurt and will be examined when the team gets to Hawaii on Friday.BIG PICTUREUConn: Thursday was the third game of a hectic beginning to the 2016-17 season, which the Huskies will play seven games in 20 days and also take a 10,200-mile road trip during that span.LMU: The Lions coach, former NBA coach Mike Dunlap, figures to improve LMUs 14-17 record from a year ago. Dunlap has formed a strong nucleus of transfers, junior college players and newcomers.UP NEXTUConn travels to the Island of Maui for the fourth time to participate in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational starting Monday against Oklahoma State, followed by games on Tuesday and Wednesday.LMU has an eight-day break before hosting Portland State, followed by games against Boise State and Southern Utah before concluding its four-game home stand. ' ' '